Zero-trust security vendor ThreatLocker has added aiDesk, from startup managed services automation vendor Pia, to its list of trusted applications.
The move ensures that ThreatLocker’s allowlisting technology, which normally blocks any process not explicitly approved in advance for use in client environments, now permits aiDesk to interact with protected endpoints by default.
“From the onset, partner and client security has been paramount for Pia,” said Nic Ferraro, Pia’s COO, in a media statement. “Being born out of an MSP, we understand the importance of having the most robust security controls in place, not only as a form of best-in-class controls but also to provide peace of mind to anyone operating within our extended environment. Being recognized by ThreatLocker is just another way that we have proven how vital security is to us. We continue to work with ThreatLocker, and the best security vendors to ensure we are up to date with industry standards.”
Available overseas since last summer and officially introduced in North America last month, aiDesk is a robotic process automation solution for MSPs that uses machine learning and natural language processing to analyze, route, and resolve level 1 and 2 service tickets.
Security has been a priority for the solution since its inception, according to Pia, which has designed the system to comply with GDPR requirements and both the SOC 2 and ISO 27001 standards. Additionally, Pia subjects aiDesk to independent third-party security and compliance assessments, performs independent third-party penetration tests at least annually, and requires its employees to complete rigorous security awareness training.
The solution’s core function is streamlining routine but expensive chores like new user creation, password resets, and printer setups that consume the lion’s share of an average technician’s day.
“75% of any MSP’s operational expense is labor,” said Renee McCloden, vice president of sales for North America at Pia, during a conversation with ChannelPro last week in Dallas at the first ChannelPro SMB Forum event of 2023. “It is their single largest cost.
If we can take half of that workload away through aiDesk and leveraging automation, then we’ve truly served our purpose.”
Closing simpler tickets automatically saves partners time as well as money, McCloden continues. “The individual MSP owners can take a step back, invest in training, develop the team, work on proactive tickets, work on projects, work on certifications with those staff, and scale the business,” she says. “They have time to think and breathe and focus on what they want to do with their organization as opposed to being caught in the reactive ticket tornado.”
A second, newer Pia application called Canvas lets partners create a stripped down, simplified front end for otherwise complex ticketing solutions like ConnectWise PSA. The goal is to boost MSP efficiency by enabling “level zero” employees with little to no IT knowledge but strong customer service skills, like administrative assistants and salespeople, to triage incoming help desk calls.
“It’s a much simpler, friendlier interface for them to operate in,” McCloden observes. “They don’t need all of the experience of working in a fully built-out robust PSA environment.”
Pia, which was founded by executives at Australian managed services leader Virtual IT Group, currently has more than 60 partners in Australia, the U.K., and North America who collectively manage over 250,000 endpoints.
The company has integrations in place now for ConnectWise PSA, Datto’s Autotask PSA, and ServiceNow. Additional integrations with Kaseya BMS and HaloPSA are due in the second or third quarter of this year.
Global sales of robotic process automation solutions like aiDesk will climb 17.5% this year to roughly $3.4 billion, according to Gartner.
